Duke freshman Cam Reddish and Tre Jones are close on and off the court. The two stars addressed the media before their game with Central Florida where the winner goes to the Sweet 16 in Washington, D,.C,
Cam Reddish & Tre Jones Talk Duke-UCF
Tag Archives: Tre Jones
Duke Set to Take on All Comers in Columbia
It's been a pretty darn entertaining year for the 2018-19 Duke Blue Devils basketball team. The Blue Devils started the regular season with a beat down of Kentucky but ended it with their second loss to North Carolina and a third-place regular season finish.
Injuries played a big role in the late season struggles where several Duke players missed time, including Zion Williamson. Duke would right the ship with Williamson back in the lineup with three wins in the ACC Tournament and in the end, are the conference champions.
Duke enters the NCAA Tournament as the nation's number one seed and they will play not too far south in Columbia, S.C. in an effort to survive and advance. With Zion Williamson, the nations tops player, in his home state, good things are likely to happen for Duke.
The Blue Devils should be well rested with their game tipping off this Friday promptly at 7:10 on CBS. They will also get what amounts to be an easy game where they face the winner or North Carolina Central and North Dakota State. Both of those teams are 18-15 and the winners will be playing on two days rest.
Duke should be able to use their depth early and often in the opening game which will further rest any minor nagging injuries to their players. The second game will be more challenging, if not on the court, then in other ways.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski might well face his first great recruit in Johnny Dawkins and Central Florida. It is a known fact, that Krzyzewski does not like to face his former players when they are at the helm at other schools.
Then again, Duke may face Virginia Commonwealth and few Duke fans will forget losing to them in the NCAA Tournament during the 2006-07 season. The UCF and VCU game is expected to be close. The Golden Knights are a 1.5 point favorite, so it is tough to project who the opponent will be with any certainty.
Regardless of the opponent, Duke should make it through to Washington. D.C. In years past, this would seem less certain, but RJ Barrett and Zion Williamson are on this team and those two guys will be etched in Duke fans memories for years to come in that they are both destined for more greatness.
Quite simply, Duke should take care of business with a team that is peaking at the right time. They may have a challenge for a bit in games if they are not focussed but it would be a shock for them not to advance.
The Blue Devils are in a position to be a rested team as the tournament advances. What you want to avoid are injuries while working on areas of concern, such as ironing out the rotation that will be used as the team seeking its sixth national title adjusts for the prime time of the season.
It would benefit Duke for Cam Reddish to get a little more comfortable in the rotation by involving him more in Columbia. Tre Jones needs to continue being aggressive on offense for he is money from the free throw stripe, an area where the star freshmen struggle.
The Blue Devils could also use the trip to possibly shore up their three-point shooting while continuing to tweak their already good defense. What the staff is likely looking for is a more consistent effort by its rotation players as well for good things happen when all the players contribute in the box score.
And speaking of contrinutions, Marques Bolden has returned to practice. This is another key to chemistry, especially if Duke is able to get him some minutes this weekend.
The bottom line is that Duke has too much firepower on offense to stumble this early, but Krzyzewski probably rolls over when people pencil them forward with such ease. It is not for a lack of respect for the opponent that has me saying what I have but instead, the respect I have for the talent on this years team.
And did I mention that Zion Williamson will be playing in his home state this weekend? Let the games begin!
10 Thoughts to Ponder on Duke-UNC III
The Duke Shadow Helps UNC -- Duke will play North Carolina for the third time since February 20th in the ACC Tournament semifinals just after 9:20 this evening. In each of the previous games, the Blue Devils have been the media darling. In fact, more people have been talking about when Zion Williamson will play than the two North Carolina wins and that kind of thing gets to you. This is especially true for a North Carolina team that is red-hot. No matter what they do, people have talked about Duke and that same thing will allow for a collective chip on their team's shoulder tonight. Trust me, the Tar Heels want their shot at Zion too if for no other reason than to remove that asterisk people have mentioned. Most teams would not trade places with Duke and the hype surrounding them, but it can at times work against you and I would make a case for that happening in this series to date.
I cannot help but notice or recall that -- Zion Williamson went out shortly into the McDonald's All American game when Tar Heel to be, Nassir Little aggressively jumped out to defend him resulting in Williamson going down which led to Williamson injury. That was uncharacteristic, if not over the top effort defensively for an all-star game atmosphere, In the game at Cameron, Luke Maye jumped out to defend him causing Williamson to start to make a move and we all know what happened with his shoe a second into the aforementioned move. The point is that the Tar Heels will make Williamson prove himself and could use the strategy of fouling him to limit his game. Williamson struggled from the free throw stripe last evening while dominating every other aspect of the game.
Duke does miss Bolden --Marquese Bolden clogged up the paint for Duke and with him being out, Duke is smaller even with Williamson back. The Tar Heel love to go inside and their backdoor cuts are relentless, so Duke will have to get a big game from Javin DeLaurier and Jack White on the boards.
Limit mistakes - Teams can find themselves down in a hurry to North Carolina just as they might Virginia. You have to value the ball against the Tar Heels in that they are so efficient on the offensive end. No team is playing together better than North Carolina at this time. Duke turned the ball over in a way last night that would bury them against better teams. It is critical that they cut down on mistakes against one of the ACC's best teams.
Don't get caught standing around -- If Duke stands around and watches RJ Barrett and Zion Williams it may not be enough. The Blue Devils must develop other scoring options and to win the tournament each member of the team has to show up.
Will someone in please ask RJ Barrett a question? -- Okay, yes, Zion Williamson had the game everyone is talking about, even those who do not follow hoops closely. But Barrett seemed lonely on the podium last evening with one question coming his way. Barrett is incredibly consistent and is the only college basketball player in all the land that has scored at least 13 points in every game he's played.
Yes, it looks like this game is for a #1 seed. -- While Duke is no lower than a #2 seed no matter what happens, they have to win tonight to regain a #1 seed.
Tre Jones must keep shooting. -- I get that he struggles at times with his three-point shot, but he must stay aggressive and take those open looks. Good things will happen in time if Jones continues to score and may he get to the line more as well where he was perfect last night. The bottom line is that Jones took a three is a much better option than some others doing so on this team and the shot will fall if he stays with it.
What needs to happen. -- I will not mention any names here but some Duke players on the roster have not shown up against North Carolina and in this game, the whole roster needs to contribute.
What I see happening tonight. -- It will be a heck of a game and one where things could get chippy. Williamson will have to earn his points but Duke will benefit from his presence which will loosen up others to score the ball. I feel that Duke could actually lose this game and still win it all, but I think they will find a way to come out on the winning end against North Carolina.
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Coach K Talks Practices to Date
The first Mike Krzyzewski coached Duke team to take an offseason foreign trip was the 1983 group to France. Freshman at that time could not make the journey per NCAA rules, but that has now changed.
Thank goodness for said changes, in that Duke will rely heavily on freshman this season and two of them in Tre Jones and Cam Reddish will be sidelined for their upcoming Canadian trip.
It was announced earlier today, that Cam Reddish is hobbled by a groin injury and that Tre Jones had yet to recover fully from an issue with his hip. While both players will be ready to go for the season and are participating in some drills, Krzyzewski will err on the side of caution and sit his prized freshman but did call the injuries minor.
Duke has completed seven of ten allowed practices to date. "So far, I couldn't be more pleased with the chemistry that has developed and these guys have been really fun to coach," said Krzyzewski.
Krzyzewski also said they have not been pushing conditioning as of yet, stating that his team was in decent shape but the staff did not want to push them too early. "For this trip, it is impossible to put in your entire system, so we are trying to keep it simple and see how our guys play."
As for the veterans, Krzyzewski said that Javin DeLaurier has played great and not just good. And that Marques Bolden was healthy and adjusting to a new position and how he will be used.
Other notes from his press conference were that Jack White has lost ten pounds and is shooting the ball better per Krzyzewski and Alex O'Connell has been playing well.
The Duke coach also said the team would run a different offense this season with five men out and more motion. And there was a strong hint that the team would get back to playing some man to man defense.
Before Kryzewsski came out for the media, R.J. Barrett took to the podium. He was asked if there were instances where he could run the point as a lead ball handler in which he said yes. Krzyzewski would later say that as well, "Having those two guys (Jones, Reddish) out will hurt our ball handling for the trip and there will be more emphasis with R.J. being out there. Alex O'Connell will help and Zion (Williamson) will be all over the place "
Krzyzewski also said this years group would be good defensively and that they would do a lot of things differently than a season ago on offense where he expects the players to have the freedom to create.
Duke will leave for the Toronto area on Sunday where they will play three games in six days.
GAME SCHEDULE
August 15, 2018, 7 p.m. ET Game 1 vs. Ryerson University Hershey Centre
August 17, 2018, 6 p.m. ET Game 2 vs. University of Toronto Hershey Centre
August 19, 2018, 3 p.m. ET Game 3 vs. McGill University Place Bell
Injuries Will Sideline Tre Jones and Cam Reddish
Duke head basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski confirmed today that incoming freshman Tre Jones and Cam Reddish will not play in their upcoming Canadian trip.
According to Krzyzewski, Reddish is nursing a groin injury while Jones is still not fully recovered from a hip injury. It was also mentioned that both players were currently participating in some of the seven practices to date including drills.
Both players will be ready to go when practice starts in October per Krzyzewski and neither injury is expected to affect either player long term.
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